Iain Duncan Smith's evidence to the work and pensions committee - Summary

•Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, has been accused of not being open with a Commons select committee and of treating it with arrogance and disrespect. The accusation came from Labour members of the Commons work and pensions committee, during a particularly testy hearing, which saw several members of the committee speaking to him with disdain, and Duncan Smith treating them likewise. Dame Anne Begg, the committee chairman, complained that last year Duncan Smith appeared before the committee and implied everything was going well with universal credit, when in fact a major internal review was underway. She said:

You can imagine why some people are a bit suspicious that this is a department attempt to sweep things under the carpet.

Debbie Abrahams, another Labour MP, was even more scathing.

﻿[I can say] with the strongest feeling my concern about the hubris that you have demonstrated in your tone to this committee. You haven't explained - certainly to my satisfaction and I'm sure anybody that is watching will drew their own conclusions - you have not made any satisfactory explanation about how you have informed, and kept this committee informed, about the difficulties that your department is experiencing. There's been obfuscation, smoke and mirrors, even up to to a few week before the report from the National Audit [Office]. The memorandum that was released in August was clearly saying everything was fine and dandy. It is clearly not. I will give you one more opportunity to answer so that you can explain to this committee why there was such poor information provided by your department.

Labour's Glenda Jackson said that Duncan Smith's attempts to explain the situation had left her feeing she was "in the fog".

With respect, I don't have to tell the committee everything that is happening in the department until we have reached a conclusion about what is actually happening. I will take those decisions myself and account for the decisions that were taken and I have done that ...

With respect, I don't think this committee can run the department.

But he strongly rejected Begg's claim that he was sweeping things under the carpet, or that he had given the committee a misleading account of the state of the universal credit programme in evidence last year. And he had some particularly ill-tempered exchanges with Jackson. At one point he said he did not know what she was trying to ask, and that it was as if she were talking in a foreign language. At one point he implied that she did not understand how departmental accounts work.

• Dame Anne Begg, the committee, chairman, has told Duncan Smith that the committee does not think he has solved the problems affecting universal credit. She told him this:

I think our problem is we are not convinced by your argument that you have got it sorted out.

• Duncan Smith has described as "ludicrous" reports that there has been a row between the Cabinet Office and the DWP over the implementation of universal credit.

• Duncan Smith has said the benefits cap was never meant to save "staggering amounts of money". Asked about the revelation that it has affected fewer families than originally expected, he said it was intended to change behaviour as much as to save money.

Q; Why has the estimate for the amount you will save from the benefits cap fallen?

Duncan Smith says 19,000 were in households that would have been capped, but are now not applying for benefits. He thinks they have gone back to work.

Q: If your modelling was so wrong, have you changed it?

Duncan Smith says the cap was partly about saving money. But it was partly about promoting "cultural change". He would never have guessed that so many people would have moved into work.

The cap is working, he says.

Q: Would you consider exempting all temporary accommodation?

Duncan Smith says he keeps this under review.

Dame Anne Begg says that in Aberdeen, where she is an MP, most people affected are in temporary accommodation. That means their housing costs get picked up by the council. Are you sure that the savings you claim aren't offset by other costs elsewhere.

Duncan Smith says he does not think that is happening.

He says the benefits cap was never meant to save "staggering amounts of money". It was about changing behaviours, he says.

Duncan Smith says he wanted a chance to commen on this. He has had a look at this. Since the coalition came to power, the level of in-work poverty has been relatively stable. But there was a 500,000 increase while Labour was in power.

Q: What is the effect of part-time work on this?

Duncan Smith says we have seen the biggest rise in full-time work.

The numbers in involuntary part-time work are falling.

Debbie Abrahams interrupts. Duncan Smith says she is not letting him reply.

He says the proportion of people looking for a full-time job but unable to get one is lower that it is on average in the EU.

Q: At December's hearing I told you about a whistleblower who said benefits staff were under pressure to sanction people. After that I was inundated by comments from people, claimants and staff, making the same point. Have you had a look at this?

Duncan smith says the number of people being sanctioned varies every month.

Abrahams says the numbers of risen very steeply.

He tries reading out some numbers. Abrahams interrupts him.

Q: Do you accept that sanctions are too high?

No, says Duncan Smith. There may be individuals who make mistakes. But it is not policy to use sanctions to cut the welfare numbers.

Abrahams says she has written to Duncan Smith asking for a meeting, but Duncan Smith has not replied. He says he has not seen the letter. He will meet her any time.

Dame Anne Begg talks about universal credit costs being written off. Duncan Smith says she's wrong. She is referring to costs being written down. That is different. Every company he has ever worked for has had to write down costs, he says.

(This hearing has been running for less than 20 minutes, and some of the more aggressive MPs have not come in yet, but already it is getting very tetchy.)

It suggested three key questions for the committee. Here is the extract from the briefing setting them out.

1. Why have there been no ministerial directions about this project?

The IfG has argued that the system allowing permanent secretaries to formally state their objection about a project to a minister is not working. Not a single direction has been sought under the current government, compared to more than a dozen sought by this stage of the government post-1997. If a permanent secretary believes a spending decision breaches any of the Treasury criteria of regularity, propriety, value for money, and feasibility, as Accounting Officer they must ask for a written direction to continue from the Secretary of State. The accounting officer then implements the decision – but it is the minister who bears responsibility for that use of public money. In the case of Universal Credit, no direction was sought and we do not know why.

2. Where is the “clarity of consequences” for the damning PAC report?

November’s PAC report tells a sorry story about unclear management structures and responsibility. As the Institute said when it was published, clearly the immediate responsibility for the oversight and management of Universal Credit lies squarely with the permanent secretary. The IfG report ‘Accountability at the Top, argued that any system of accountability needs “clarity of consequences” – in a consistent and widely-understood link from performance to the rewards and sanctions that flow from it. We still do not know who in government was responsible for considering the PAC report, and what consequences, if any, they deemed necessary as a result of its damning content.

3. What has changed to ensure that past mistakes on accountability are not repeated?

Prior to the NAO report, the department consistently provided reassuring assessments of the progress of Universal Credit. Since the NAO report, the public has again heard assurances that issues have been resolved and the project is on track with a revised timetable. How can both the parliament and public and have the confidence that they are being correctly informed, including that the writing down of IT assets is being done in a way that ensures value for money? Without accurate information, it is impossible for parliament to hold both ministers and civil servants to account in a timely manner, and a danger that problems are hidden rather than faced up to.

Maria Eagle,the shadow environment secretary, says this is an unbelievable stressful time for the residents involved.

When the flooding started, the government was too slow to react, she says.

What did Paterson do when the problem first arose?

Is calling for a report in six weeks a sufficient response?

Why did Paterson take flooding out of a list of his department's priorities?

Will he admit funding for flood protection has been cut?

And will he apologise for the decision to use a premium rate number for the flooding advice line?

Paterson was meant to make a statement on flooding by the end of January. He failed to do this. After his botched badger cull, and now this, is it any wonder people question whether Paterson is up to job?

Owen Paterson's statement on flooding

Owen Paterson, the environment secretary, is making a statement on flooding at 3.30pm.

He is responding to an urgent question from Maria Eagle, his Labour shadow.

Earlier she put out this statement. It comes close to calling for his resignation.

David Cameron has broken his promise that Owen Paterson would update parliament by the end of January on levels of flood defence investment. This is more proof that Owen Paterson is failing to get a grip in response to the devastating flooding that is still causing misery to so many people in Somerset. Those facing wrecked homes and lost business because of the floods deserve better than this.

Owen Paterson removed flood protection from his Department’s list of priorities as soon as he got the job, will be spending nearly £100m a year on flood protection by the end of this parliament and has refused to listen to scientific advice on climate change. Over the past fortnight, he has overseen chaos and confusion over how to cope with these floods, whether over the effectiveness of dredging or the need for military assistance. After his botched badger cull and failure on flooding, it’s no wonder so many people are now asking if he is up to the job.

And here's James Kewin, deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, responding to Michael Gove's speech.

The secretary of state said this morning that he had never visited a school that excelled academically, which didn't also excel in extra-curricular activities. We could not agree more, and I’m sure everyone in the sixth form college sector would endorse Mr Gove’s view that these activities help to build character and instil grit, to give children's talents an opportunity to grow and to allow them to discover new talents they never knew they had.

But it is difficult to square Mr.Gove’s view with his decision to cut the funding for extra-curriculum activities by 10% in 2011. Subsequent reductions in funding will see some sixth form colleges lose one third of their funding by the end of this parliament. The secretary of state’s pledge to end the ‘Berlin Wall’ between the state and independent sectors is misguided – many sixth form colleges (all non-selective) actually outperform their neighbouring independent sixth forms. But there is undoubtedly a funding divide that needs to be addressed – the average funding per student for a sixth former in the state sector is £4,560 and falling, in the independent sector it is £13,485 and rising. Mr Gove gave us no indication today of how state Sixth Form Colleges are supposed to provide the sort of extra-curricular activities available in the independent sector with just a third of the funding.

As was reported earlier today some of the funding required for these activities could be found if the government stopped lavishing funding on new, more expensive and untested free school sixth form colleges while existing sixth form colleges are being forced to cut courses and reduce the support they can offer to students. The government needs to wake up to the crisis in sixth form funding, which risks damaging the prospects of young people at what is a vital time in their education.

The push for longer school days of up to 10 hours will be counterproductive for many children and young people. Primary school pupils in particular will find it very difficult to concentrate or even stay awake for such long periods. We must not lose sight that children deserve a childhood and time for relaxation. School must not become some sort of production line filled with weary youngsters.

Michael Gove’s solution to everything appears to be more testing whether it be of our 4 or 14 year olds and of course punishment rather than praise. It is through a relevant curriculum that engages and enthuses students that good behaviour and achievement will occur, not drilling and detention.

Lunchtime summary

•Michael Gove, the education secretary, has used a wide-ranging speech to set out his ambition to make England's state schools as good as private schools.

We know England's private schools are the best independent schools in the world. Why shouldn't our state schools be the best state schools in the world?

My ambition for our education system is simple - when you visit a school in England standards are so high all round that you should not be able to tell whether it’s in the state sector or a fee paying independent.

He dismissed suggestions that private schools only achieve excellence because of higher funding, or academic selection, saying that some state schools without these advantages already perform as well as the best private schools. He suggested that state school pupils should sit the common entrance exam (used by private schools) to assess their progress at the age of 13, and he said a future Conservative government would make funding available to allow state schools to state open for nine or 10 hours, so that pupils have more time for after-school activities. This is what he told the World at One when asked about funding this plan.

One of the things that George Osborne has done as part of our plan for improving education is safeguard schools funding and also give more money for disadvantaged students. I think that George Osborne’s commitment as part of our plan for economic recovery to funding schools properly is not in doubt. And of course we need to make sure that the money that we’ve already secured is being spent effectively before we ask for more, but I’m also confident that if we make a strong case in the right way for the right sort of education spending, that the Treasury will be in the future, as they have been in the past, incredibly supportive.

• Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, has dismissed Gove's plan to get state school children to sit the common entrance exam as "singularly inappropriate". This is what she told the World at One.

I think he is a little obessed with the exam culture ... Why would we imagine that is an appropriate examination? He has not discussed that with anybody, he has not discussed it with any of the exam boards, he has certainly not discussed it with the representatives of teachers. So we would see that as a singularly inappropriate thing to be doing. Schools all assess how young people are doing. You cannot continue to teach people unless you know where they have got to. So the idea that there isn't assesment is simply nonsense.

• Gove has defended his plan not to reappoint Sally Morgan as chair of Ofsted.

I think Sally has done a superlative job. But I also think it is the case that there shouldn't be an automatic assumption of re-appointment for someone who is the chair of a public body ... If you have got a role that is primarily a scrutiny and challenge role, then it is appropriate to bring fresh pair of eyes to bear at the end of any particular term.

He also said that Morgan could be reappointed to another job in education.

If another job comes up which Sally wants to apply for in the education field, I would enthusiastically encourage her hiring and want to work with her in the future.

He was speaking as Lord Adonis, the Labour former education minister, used Twitter to urge him to reconsider.

• Gove has said that it was his idea to replace Morgan, not Number 10's.

• He rejected suggestions that David Laws, his Lib Dem deputy, would take charge of the process to appoint a new Ofsted chair. (See 11.18am.) "No politician will have a responsibility for finding a replacement," he said. New candidates would be identified by an independent panel, he said. During the Q&A session after his speech Gove said that the right candidate could come from any political background.

If the right candidate, for any public appointment, happens to be a member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, or generous enough to support a political party with their hard-earned cash, if they're the right person, then he or she will be appointed, and that's the end of it.

But, when he was asked about this on the World at One, he did not deny a suggestion that he wanted Morgan to be replaced by someone who would defend the Conservative party's educational legacy.

I think it is important to ensure that there is as much support for what we've been doing as possible, and I think that that involves that we continue to make the argument with the help of people from every political party. What's striking about the legacy - I hesitate to use that word, it's slightly self-aggrandising - what's striking about what we're doing in education is it's part of a long-term plan which has secured support from people in most political parties, and indeed people who have no political allegiance but who recognise that the quality of state education, which has been improving and is getting better, needs to be driven further and faster towards the level of education that those privately enjoy.

One of the best things about the DfE is that it attracts civil servants who are skilled at saying yes, no, maybe, and sometimes just sucking their teeth to let me know, politely but firmly, that it's a bad idea ... I think the characterisation of the Department for Education as a gallery of nodding dogs is very wide of the mark.

And this is what he said when the same point was put to him on the World at One.

I don’t think that’s true. I think the lead non-executive director, the most important person for challenging ministers in my department, is a fantastic chap called Paul Marshall who is a donor to the Liberal Democrats; one of my principle policy advisers is someone whom Irecruited from the Liberal Democrats; the person whom I appointed to lead a review of social work, Martin Narey, is not a Conservative.

• Gove has rejected the idea that he dismisses the education establishment as "the Blob". (See 9.31am) This is what he said about this claim on the World at One.

I think I used that once in a Mail on Sunday article. I may have used it more often. It is not actually my term. It is a term coined by William Bennett, who was an education secretary in America. And it was in widespread use in the education debate.

And during his Q&A he said that "the characterisation of education policy as a unified chorus of views on any one side of the debate is also a mischaracterisation". But the NUT's Christine Blower said his use of the term was "insulting".

I think it's deeply damaging, and it's insulting. The fact is, people have a variety of views. In other jurisdictions you do not find education ministers being gratuitously insulting.

Michael Gove’s reforms to our education system are among the most important work being undertaken by this government, and they should not be overshadowed by political bickering.

Our members are clear that a lack of basic literacy and numeracy skills among school leavers remains a serious barrier to employment, and acts as a drag on a generation. Rectifying this skills deficit should be an absolute priority, and we are encouraged to see that the Coalition’s reforms are starting to bear fruit.

Giving schools the freedom to open longer and empowering them to take a tougher approach to disruptive pupils are important elements of a meaningful, long-term reform agenda. Any successful organisation, in the public or private sector, needs to be able to respond flexibly and creatively to demand, whether from parents, pupils or employers.

Today’s generation of schoolchildren will be looking for jobs in a competitive and unforgiving global race. Countries with an unrelenting focus on the quality and rigour of their education system will be the ones who win that race. Unleashing choice and flexibility throughout the state education system can only be a positive move as we equip our young people for a competitive world.

From Adam Marshall, executive director of the British Chambers of Commerce

Raising standards in state schools is something businesses across England will cheer. Ultimately, however, higher standards must translate into higher employability for pupils. Unless students are seen as more prepared for the workplace, ready to be trained and developed by future employers, this government’s education reform agenda could suffer the same fate as its predecessors’.

Michael Gove is right to set the bar high for England’s state schools. But university admissions alone must not be the measure of success. Alongside strong elite education, we also need to celebrate when schools successfully move students into excellent vocational education, apprenticeships, and the world of work.

For that reason, whoever chairs Ofsted must place employability alongside academic achievement at the heart of the school assessment system.

Improving school standards starts with a qualified teacher in every classroom. Until Michael Gove commits to this, he is ruling himself out of any serious debate about how we raise standards in our schools.

Whether on discipline, delivering extra-curricular activities or on improving learning outcomes: it all hinges on the quality of the teacher in the classroom. Raising the quality of teaching - that is where the focus needs to be and that is what Labour is concerned with. The Tories have lost sight of this and are undermining school standards as a result.

Q: [From the Sun's Kevin Schofield] What do you make of David Laws intervention in the Ofsted row, and his threat to veto Theodore Agnew?

Gove says there isa process for selecting someone for a public appointment. Selections are made on merit. And the commission in charge of that is independent. If the right person applies, they will be appointed.

In the months ahead I hope to say more about how we can go further in helping the most disadvantaged, how we can do more to improve vocational education, how we can make a bigger difference in improving behaviour.

I also hope to say more about improving access to the best science education - especially for girls - improving access to work experience and getting more great teachers to work in our toughest schools.

But today all I want to add is a simple and heartfelt thank you to the nation’s teachers for transforming state education and the lives of our children immeasurably for the better.

Finally, the DNA of our best schools is made up of two strands. Excellence and rigour inside the classroom; and, just as important, a rich and rounded education beyond it.

I have never visited a school that excelled academically, which didn’t also excel in extra-curricular activities.

As top heads and teachers already know, sports clubs, orchestras and choirs, school plays, cadets, debating competitions, all help to build character and instil grit, to give children’s talents an opportunity to grow and to allow them to discover new talents they never knew they had.

Which is why – just like independent schools – state schools need a longer school day.

We gave all academies and free schools the freedom to change and lengthen the school day and term; and we’re extending that freedom to every single state school.

And we have cut red tape to make it easier for schools to open longer and offer on-site childcare.

But we want to go further. So I would like to see state schools – just like independent schools – offer a school day 9 or 10 hours long – allowing time for structured homework sessions, prep, which will be particularly helpful for those children who come from homes where it's difficult to secure the peace and quiet necessary for hard study. A longer school day will also make time for after-school sports matches, orchestra rehearsals, debating competitions, coding clubs, cadet training, Duke of Edinburgh award schemes and inspirational careers talks from outside visitors, just like in independent schools.

I will work with school leaders to put the steps in place to provide for these character-building activities. I am determined to ensure schools have access to the resources necessary to provide a more enriching day. I will - of course - consult across the state and independent sector to see how we can deliver as quickly as possible.

Gove says he is also supporting a plan to make the PISA tests widely available.

﻿For he same reason, we are supporting PISA’s plans to make their international tests available to English schools, so that our heads and teachers can, if they choose, check how well their pupils are performing compared to their peers – not just down the road – but on the other side of the globe, in Shanghai or Singapore.

Gove is turning to common entrance. He says pupils are private schools have rigorous testing at the age of 13.

Privately-educated children often benefit from rigorous testing of ability – and, crucially, knowledge – at regular points throughout their school career.

We have national curriculum tests at age 11 and GCSEs or their equivalents, of course, at 16.

But since key stage three tests for 14 year olds were abolished in 2008, we have had no rigorous externally-set and marked measures of progress for students in the first five years of secondary school.

It is often during this period that performance dips and students suffer.

I am open to arguments about how we can improve performance – and assessment – in this critical period.

But there is already one widely available, robust and effective test of knowledge for just this age group.

The Common Entrance test papers.

They are exams designed for 13 year olds – they are used by private schools to ensure students are on track for later success – they are already available on the web, and are a fantastic resource.

So I want state schools to try out Common Entrance exams – giving them a chance to check how well they and their pupils are performing against some of the top schools around the world.

Gove mentions other academics also developing new programmes for schools.

Alongside [Gowers], Professor Martin Hyland is heading up the Cambridge Maths Education Project – a brilliant programme bringing teaching materials developed by Cambridge’s world-famous maths faculty to ordinary schools, all over the country. Already described by schools as “transformative”, it’s designed to help A level students to strengthen and deepen their understanding of maths.

And they’re joined by Professor Mark Warner – famous for explaining the problem of the chain fountain – who is leading the Rutherford Schools Physics Project. He’s working within the A-level Physics curriculum to create extra support and resources aimed at science teachers in state schools to help students develop the skills and attitudes that physicists need. His materials will be delivered through a Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC, to reach as many schools as possible.

And I can announce today that their work will be complemented by Professor Christopher Pelling from Oxford University – who will be leading a brand new project in collaboration with several universities to develop top-quality professional development for non-specialist teachers of Classics in state schools. His work will help state school students compete on equal terms with privately educated students for university classics places.

Academics of this calibre are serious about the need to give state school students the extra level of stretch and challenge that privately-educated students enjoy through extra coaching and preparation.

Gove says he wants higher academic ambition for what children do learn.

The new GCSEs currently being developed will be more demanding, and more ambitious – asking pupils to read a wider range of literary texts in English, demonstrate extended writing in history, and show more advanced problem-solving in maths and science.

And we’re working with world-renowned, world-class Russell Group universities and Professor Mark Smith of Lancaster University to reform A Levels – ensuring they provide students with the knowledge and skills they need for the demands of university study.

Some of the best-respected academics on the globe are also working with us to drive up standards, transform teaching and inspire students in secondary schools; helping more children from state schools and deprived backgrounds to overtake their privately-educated peers and reach the best universities.

Like Professor Sir Tim Gowers – one of this country’s most recent Fields medallists – who is working with Mathematics in Education and Industry to develop entirely new courses for post-16 maths – teaching young people how to think mathematically and develop exactly the kind of problem-solving skills most valued by universities and employers. His courses will help exam boards develop new ‘Core Maths’ qualifications, aimed at those 16 year olds who get at least a C at GCSE but don’t go on to study maths A level – those, in other words, whom the current system has left behind for far too long.

Gove says he has published an updated version of the DfE's behaviour guidance. (See 10.43am.)

﻿We make clear that teachers can deploy an escalating range of sanctions. Schools can insist on a detention, whether that’s at lunch break, after school, or at weekends. And they do not need to give parents notice.

Gove says head teachers also need the power to insist on exemplary behaviour.

Without excellent behaviour, no child can learn – and a tiny minority of disruptive children can absorb almost all of teachers’ time and attention, in effect holding the education of the rest hostage.

So we have given teachers more freedoms to keep control in the classroom, and to discipline pupils for misbehaviour beyond the school gates.

Teachers’ powers to search pupils have been strengthened – not just for items that could be used to cause harm or break the law, but for items banned by the school rules – and schools are now free to impose same-day detentions as and when they think best.

Charlie Taylor – former headteacher of the Willows Special School in Hillingdon, where he achieved outstanding results with children with some of the most severe behavioural problems – joined us as a government adviser on behaviour, and developed a simple checklist to help schools tighten up their behaviour policies.

He’s now the head of the National College for Teaching and Leadership – making sure that the next generation of teachers put behaviour management right at the heart of their skills.

That emphasis on higher standards of behaviour has been reinforced by Ofsted. Sir Michael Wilshaw has made clear that poor behaviour which disrupts classroom learning will not be tolerated. Just on Friday, Ofsted confirmed that, from this month, they will start conducting no-notice monitoring inspections in schools where there are particular concerns about poor behaviour.

Gove says one advantage state schools have is that they can hire people who are not qualified teachers.

﻿Top private schools can recruit research scientists, academic experts or other people at the top of their career who want to switch to teaching – without forcing them to go back to the bottom of the ladder, start over at university and take out a student loan for a year's study before they can benefit pupils.

Labour is opposed to this, he says, even though Tristram Hunt benefited from an education like this and Ed Balls' father, a brilliant scientist, taught for a term at Eton.

Gove says many private schools have more money than state schools. He accepts that that does matter.

But it is not the only factor that counts, he says.

More important than money is attitude – ambition, expectation – an ethos of excellence.

That’s what every school can have – and the best state schools already do.

Schools like Gordon’s state boarding school, in Surrey; Holland Park school in West London; Sexeys in Bruton, in Somerset; Harris Academy Chafford Hundred; King Solomon Academy in Lisson Grove; the Hockerill Anglo-European College in Hertfordshire, Twyford Church of England School in Acton, Mossbourne Community Academy, in Hackney – once condemned as ‘the worst school in Britain’, now one of the best.

All of these – and many more – are state secondary schools every bit as good as excellent private schools. Which means they're among the best secondary schools in the world.

And there are state primary schools every bit as ambitious, as supportive, as exciting, as the smartest of private prep schools.

Like, for example, Thomas Jones primary in West London – a school with a majority of children eligible for free school meals during the last six years, a majority coming from homes where English is not their first language – which is just as good (if not better) than the pre-eminent London prep - Wetherby school - just a mile or so away.

Under the changes we're making, it’s becoming easier for state schools to match the offer from private schools.

Prep schools expect primary age children from the age of 7 or 8 to be taught by subject specialists rather than generalists. I believe state schools should seek to match that. And I was delighted to be able to visit a primary free school in Chester this week which aims to do just that. And to help every primary reach that standard, we're investing in a nationwide programme to train specialist maths teachers for our primaries.

State schools where the vast majority of pupils have the grades and the skills to apply to university, if they want to; where a state pupil being accepted to Oxbridge is not a cause for celebration, but a matter of course; where it is the norm for state pupils to enjoy brilliant extra-curricular activities like sports, orchestras, cadets, choir, drama, debating, the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, and more.

All those things are par for the course in the private sector - why shouldn't children in the state sector enjoy them?

We know England's private schools are the best independent schools in the world. Why shouldn't our state schools be the best state schools in the world?

My ambition for our education system is simple - when you visit a school in England standards are so high all round that you should not be able to tell whether it’s in the state sector or a fee paying independent.

Gove says some people still do not accept his drive for excellence for all.

Although it sounds so simple, this belief that every child should be expected to succeed is not yet the dominant consensus; not yet uncontroversial.

Some still argue that children in poor areas shouldn’t be expected to do well; shouldn’t be encouraged to aim high.

That’s why it is encouraging to see cross-party support for higher standards. Brave Labour MPs such as Ian Austin, Pat McFadden Graham Allen and Kate Hoey have challenged local authorities which have been complicit in underperformance for years to embrace reform.

Gove says he has also set up 350 teaching schools - "schools which are outstanding in their quality of teaching and which support other schools to improve teacher training, professional development and classroom practice".

New scholarships and bursaries worth up to £25,000 have helped attract top graduates into teaching. The Institute of Physics and the Royal Society of Chemistry have been supported to attract the best science graduates from elite universities into the classroom. Teacher training has been transformed under the outstanding leadership of an exceptional head teacher - Charlie Taylor. The School Direct programme he has launched enables prospective teachers to start their careers in our best schools and enables our best schools to hand-pick the most exceptional candidates. It's heavily over-subscribed and those who've benefited from it are hugely enthusiastic.

School Direct also allows schools to shop around between universities for the best support for trainee teachers. That means universities have to shape their education departments to the practical needs of schools instead of the whims of ideologues. It also means that universities have to think hard about where they direct their research in education departments. Savvy schools are using School Direct to increasingly demand that universities conduct research which supports teachers' professional development rather than satisfying academics’ pet passions.

We are blessed to have an outstanding chief inspector of schools in Sir Michael Wilshaw. From the moment of his appointment he has been setting higher standards. He has introduced an inspection framework shorn of politically correct peripherals and focused on teaching quality. He has fashioned a more professional inspectorate, with a growing number of serving school leaders taking over inspections. And he has demanded a move away from faddish attachments to outdated styles of teaching and a new emphasis that any style of teaching is welcome as long as students make progress.

League tables have also been reformed, Gove says.

We have got rid of modules in GCSEs, clamped down on the gaming of league tables through the use of multiple entry, and ensured proper marks are awarded for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Ofqual has cracked down on grade inflation and we’ve ensured vocational qualifications are - at last - as rigorous as academic courses.

More than that we are ensuring that instead of just measuring the achievements of the tiny proportion of children on the C/D grade borderline, our new accountability system will value and reward the progress of every child – low attainers and high performers alike.

Gove says there are three reasons why state schools have improved so much.

And should a modern Dangerfield attempt to analyse the reasons why the contemporary consensus on the weakness of state education has crumbled so quickly, I think he would identify three specific factors.

First – increased autonomy for schools, heads and teachers – most of all, by giving every school in the country the chance to become an academy, with the same freedoms long enjoyed by private schools.

It’s a chance which thousands have seized.

In May 2010 just 6 per cent of secondary schools were academies and no primaries.

Today 53 per cent of secondary schools are academies and more than 1700 primaries.

These signs – more great schools, more great teachers, more pupils achieving great results – add up to one inescapable conclusion.

English state education is no longer ‘bog standard’ – but getting better and better.

When Channel Four make documentaries about great comprehensives - academies - in Essex and Yorkshire, when BBC3 make heroes out of tough young teachers, when even Tatler publishes a guide to the best state schools – you know tectonic plates have started to shift.

In total, in 2012, only 16 per cent of pupils in state-funded schools achieved at least a C grade in each of the vital English Baccalaureate subjects – while 120 secondary schools across the country did not have even one pupil taking the English Baccalaureate.

One year on, the figures are significantly higher.

72,000 more young people entered the EBacc in 2013 than in 2012 – an increase of almost 60 per cent.

And when you look just at young people eligible for free school meals – the proportion taking the EBacc combination of subjects has more than doubled since 2011.

That adds up to thousands more pupils – including those from the poorest backgrounds – now studying the core academic subjects that universities and employers value; the subjects will help them get the jobs of the future.

We are quadrupling the size of Teach First, and we’ve extended it into primary schools.

From this September, Teach First will send its brilliant, dedicated trainees from the best universities to schools in every region of the country– for the first time – reaching more children than ever before.

And he says teaching has become more rigorous.

Our English Baccalaureate is a measurement of success in the essential academic subjects which give students the best possible start in life – English, maths, the sciences, languages, history and geography.

After just three years, the English Baccalaureate measure has helped to increase dramatically the number of students enjoying more rigorous courses.

Take languages. Between 2001 and 2011, the number of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 sitting modern foreign language GCSEs dropped by more than 200,000.

In 2001, 79 per cent of children in this country studied a modern foreign language at GCSE. In 2010, just 43 per cent did – about half as many.

But now the decline has been reversed.

Pupils who sat their exams in summer 2013 were the first to make their GCSE choices since the English Baccalaureate was introduced, and the proportion taking a language GCSE has risen for the first time in over a decade.

For decades, the dominant consensus has been that state education in England was barely satisfactory; it was – if I may quote a distinguished former civil servant – “bog standard”.

For many years commentators have lamented poor discipline, low standards, entrenched illiteracy, widespread innumeracy, the flight from rigour, the embrace of soft subjects, the collapse of faith in liberal learning and the erosion of excellence in science and technology.

The widespread view has been that the only way to get a really good education for your children was to escape – either into a better postcode, or into the private sector – both, of course, extorting a hefty toll from your pocket.

But now that view is no longer tenable, he says.

Because the facts show – beyond any reasonable doubt – that English state education is starting to show a sustained and significant improvement.

Fewer schools are failing.

This government has set tougher minimum standards for schools. We've made GCSEs more rigorous and insisted that every school ensure at least 40% of its students get at least five good GCSEs including English and Maths, and keep up with expected progress measures.

And as we've made those minimum standards tougher, so the number of schools falling below them has dropped dramatically. In 2010, when we came to power, there were 407 secondary schools falling below the 40% mark. Last year the number was 195 and this year it's fallen further to just 154.

George Dangerfield's "The Strange Death of Liberal England’ describes how the thought-world of Edwardian Liberalism – which seemed to be intellectually all-conquering – collapsed, never to return, in a remarkably short space of time.

Dangerfield argued that the disruptive forces of the suffragette movement, the rising Labour party and unionist reaction together overturned a status quo which had seemed impregnable.

Modern opinion divides on whether Dangerfield's analysis was correct in every regard. But no-one denies the power of his argument, or indeed the amazing speed with which the assumptions underpinning Edwardian Liberalism collapsed.

I think we need a new Dangerfield today to write about another long-held consensus that has – with remarkable rapidity – been completely overturned.

This modern Dangerfield needs to write about the strange death of the sink school – and the strangely overlooked transformation of English state education.

﻿This start-up –a genuinely independent school which is free to all, socially inclusive and academically excellent, drawing its students from one of the most disadvantaged boroughs in the country,but sending them to the best universities in the world – is a wonderful example of what's changing in state education.

I've been sent a text of Gove's speech, which was released to journalists under embargo. I'm taking the quotes from the text, although Gove is in some instances slightly changing some of the wording.

The Deputy Prime Minister is now insisting that David Laws, the Liberal Democrat Schools Minister, has responsibility over finding a replacement.

The row appeared to have ended the chances of Theodore Agnew, a Tory donor and private equity boss, from leading the schools inspectorate. He had been linked with the job.

“David Laws will now lead the process,” said a senior Lib Dem source. “Education policy is far more important than rewarding a few Tory cronies. The Lib Dems will not let our children’s education be dictated by some Tory donor ideologue.”

In response to this, Ladbrokes is now betting that Agnew will not get the job. It sent out this news release this morning.

﻿In response to reports that senior Lib Dems will seek to oppose Agnew's appointment, betting now begins on the vacancy and the good news for his detractors is that he's odds-on at 1/2 not to land the role.

﻿In research seen by The Independent, leaders of the country’s sixth-form colleges claim they have lost more than £100 million in funding over the past three years, with the result that courses in core A-level subjects - whose importance Mr Gove has been anxious to champion - are being axed.

It's time for the trade unions to march proudly out of Labour’s front door instead of being slowly bundled out of the back.

Rather than enduring a thousand indignities, organised labour should take its money and people and abandon institutional links with the party it fathered, nurtured, saved and continues to sustain. However Ed ­Miliband dresses up these far-reaching reforms, which were triggered by his blind panic over the selection of a parliamentary ­candidate in Falkirk, the truth is he wants union cash but not the unions.

When poor behaviour is identified, sanctions should be implemented consistently and fairly in line with the behaviour policy. Good schools will have a range of disciplinary measures clearly communicated to school staff, pupils and parents. These can include:

- A verbal reprimand.

- Extra work or repeating unsatisfactory work until it meets the required standard.

- The setting of written tasks as punishments, such as writing lines or an essay.

- Loss of privileges – for instance the loss of a prized responsibility or not being able to participate in a non-uniform day (sometimes referred to as ‘mufti’ days).

- Missing break time.

- Detention including during lunch-time, after school and at weekends.

- School based community service or imposition of a task – such as picking up litter or weeding school grounds; tidying a classroom; helping clear up the dining hall after meal times; or removing graffiti.

- Regular reporting including early morning reporting; scheduled uniform and other behaviour checks; or being placed “on report” for behaviour monitoring.

- Extra physical activity such as running around a playing field; and

- In more extreme cases schools may use temporary or permanent exclusion.

And here's is an extract from the DfE's news release about the new instructions.

There has been significant progress since 2010 on improving behaviour, with persistent absence and exclusions for abuse and assault both down significantly. However, with 700,000 pupils still in schools where behaviour is not good enough, there is much still to do.

Updated Government guidelines will be sent to all schools in England next week, making clear that tough but proportionate punishments, ranging from writing lines to asking pupils to report at the school gates early in the morning, are just as crucial to an effective education as praising and rewarding good behaviour.

While the current guidelines made clear the legal backing for setting punishments, they stop short of outlining potential sanctions — leaving many heads and teachers unclear of the action they can take, particularly with regard to misplaced health and safety fears or concern about litigation.

While the Education Secretary is lauded by the commentariat and by Conservative activists, his approval rating among parents is less impressive. A YouGov poll last year found that 25 per cent of voters would be less likely to vote Tory if he became leader with just four per cent more likely.

And voters, contrary to Westminster perception, aren't keen on his policies either. Another YouGov poll, for the Times, showed that just 27 per centsupport free schools with 47 per cent opposed. In addition, 66 cent share Labour and the Lib Dems' belief that the schools should only be able to employ qualified teachers and 56 per cent believe the national curriculum should be compulsory. For these reasons, among others, Labour has consistently led the Tories (see p. 8) on education since the end of 2010, with a five point advantage at present.

The row between the Lib Dems and Conservatives over Ofsted has taken a curious turn this morning, with Lib Dem MP David Ward, not particularly well-liked by the leadership, appearing as a party spokesman on the Today programme.

Given this is about someone’s fixed-term contract not being renewed (any voters who are bothering to pay attention to this row will wish a similar fuss was made when the same thing happened to them), it is, as Fraser said on , an entirely manufactured row designed to appeal to that very specific group of voters Nick Clegg

The Lib Dems may have misjudged this one. Admitting that they are motivated by polling showing that they could win vote among public sector workers, especially teachers, by attacking Mr Gove, is hardly admirable. Desperate, more like. And the way David Laws briefed out that he was "absolutely furious at the blatant attempts by the Tories to politicise Ofsted" goes some way beyond the scripted discourtesies of Coalition politics. As Peter McKay rightly observes in the Mail, why not just come out and say it?

Almost no-one in the world outside Westminster has heard of Baroness Morgan. I'd wager not many people follow Ofsted appointments either. No, to anyone outside the bubble, to people worried about their economic prospects, this is just a bunch of politicians shouting at each other about their ability or inability to give each other lucrative jobs at the taxpayers' expense. Which is just what politicians do, as far as a lot of voters are concerned. And therein lies part of the explanation for why people cannot stand the political and media classes.

In the comments urbanm says Nick Robinson's blog about The Blob (see 9.31am) misses an important point about the 1950s film.

﻿It also fails to point out that Gove and co labelling the educational establishment is apt in another way: 1950s sci-fi films were often allegories for the US coming under attack from the 'threat' of Communism and Dominic Cummings and Gove's entire coterie seem to see Marxists and Trots everywhere within the establishment whenever they are challenged on their ideology.

﻿My ambition for our education system is simple – when you visit a school in England standards are so high all round that you should not be able to tell whether it's in the state sector or a fee-paying independent.

Why does the Education Secretary Michael Gove now find himself fighting his former top official, Sir David Bell, his Lib Dem deputy David Laws and the chair of Ofsted, Baroness Morgan, who he has not re-appointed to her job?

His explanation is that he is locked in a struggle with "The Blob" - the name he and his allies give to the educational establishment which is inspired by the 1950s film about an amoeba-like alien mass which nothing has been able to stop. Gove sees himself as a revolutionary fighting the Blob's "progressive" grip over teacher training, classroom standards and qualifications.

Michael Gove, the education secretary, likes to pick a fight with the education establishment. He is giving a speech later this morning on education reform which may stir things up - his speeches often do - but for the last 24 hours he has already been embroiled in a row (including with his Lib Dem deputy, David Laws) over his decision to replace Sally Morgan as chair of Ofsted. That means the Q&A after the speech should be even more lively than usual.

Here are the latest developments in the story. I've taken some of the quotes from PoliticsHome.

• David Ward, a Lib Dem member of the Commons education committee, has suggested that Gove should be replaced. This is what Ward told the Today programme.

﻿Where is the evidence that this particular person [Lady Morgan], who we heard has done a superlative job, cannot continue to do that superlative job? That's what we need in an ever-changing system. We need that continuity. If we really want to refresh the system then maybe we ought to think about getting a new secretary of state for education.

﻿The education secretary, Michael Gove, has been highly skilled in defining his school reforms against what he calls The Blob – an amorphous, bloated education establishment opposing him at every turn; a mass of bureaucrats, unions and academics who eschew rigour for a left-wing, child-centred, progressive agenda.

But there is another truism in politics – don’t believe your own hype. Whitehall has a habit of isolating ministers. The day-to-day grind of policy battles, firefighting and political ding-dong can start to cut you off from outside ideas and thinking. The row over Ofsted’s leadership shows the importance of retaining, and being seen to retain, independent voices near the top – not simply “yes men”. The danger is that while The Blob is a useful political tool in the short-term, it simply might not be as deep-rooted as the education secretary believes.

Yes, the main teaching unions' leaderships have played right into the government’s hands over the past four years. Their barrage of industrial action and knee-jerk opposition to any change, has allowed the Education Secretary and his supporters to characterise them as cartoon-like bogeymen. The unions’ political naivety has been astonishing.

But there is a far wider group of non-Blobberati voices across the schools sector, higher education, industry and the voluntary sector, who offer an intelligent critique of where we are now.

These people have been broadly supportive of successive governments' education reforms and, as a result, are not so easily dismissed. They believe in improving our education system but they also advocate sensible debate. They should be listened to by politicians of all parties.

What we are doing is we are giving a green light to teachers to get tougher on discipline. At the moment, a third of teachers say they are not sure about how to discipline children, about which disciplines are acceptable and which are not acceptable. What we are giving is a list so that teachers are really clear - you are not going to get caught in the Human Rights Act, you are not going to get a health and safety warning if you use these punishments. It is acceptable for you to use them.

We know that discipline has improved in our schools but there are still too many children who are not properly disciplined and who are ruining the learning of others.

• Nick Gibb, a Conservative former education minister, has rejected claims that the coalition is packing quangos like Ofsted with Conservative supporters. This is what he told the Today programme.

I don’t accept that at all, because the replacement for Sally Morgan will be made through an appointments commission; it will be chaired by Paul Marshall, who’s the lead non-executive director - a Liberal Democrat - and there are procedures that have to be followed and they present the Secretary of State with one or two candidates who he will then appoint. So there is no threat to the independence of Ofsted.

But, also, this assertion by Labour that there’s somehow a political pattern of appointments in public office, it’s simply not true. This coalition has appointed three times as many Labour supporters as Conservative supporters to public office. There was a graph on the BBC News itself last night showing that Labour supporters far outweigh Conservative supporters in these appointments.

I will be covering the speech in details, as well as all the other developments in the Ofsted row.

4.30pm: Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, and his permanent secretary, Robert Devereux, give evidence to the Commons work and pensions committee about the work of the Department for Work and Pensions.

I plan to be focusing in particular today on the Gove speech, and then either the BBC committee hearing or the Iain Duncan Smith committee hearing. But, as usual, I will also be flagging up any breaking political news, posting summaries with a round-up of all the day's developments, and highlighting the most interesting political articles on the web.